World News Quick Take

AGENCIE

■ AUSTRALIA

Amorous stag gores man

A man was gored in the thigh on Friday by an amorous stag after entering a deer paddock in the middle of the breeding season. The 26-year-old worker at the tourist farm near Sydney ignored signs on the paddock gate warning people to keep out and was charged by the stag, the husband of the farm’s owner said. “It was the middle of the rut, that is why the animal was acting like it did,” Barry Hibbard said. The man, who was apparently trying to feed some grass cuttings to the deer, was taken to a hospital after the incident and was expected to be sent home later on Friday. Hibbard said the animal was usually very docile, but did not take kindly to the intrusion of another male into its territory.

■ AUSTRALIA

Kangaroos to be killed

Hundreds of kangaroos will be culled at a former naval site near Sydney after the defense department said plans to relocate the animals fell through. The department called off the cull of about 400 eastern gray kangaroos earlier this year after a public outcry, but said it now had no option but to call in contractors to kill the animals. The federal government had withdrawn support for a plan to relocate the kangaroos because it would cost millions of dollars and was not considered an effective use of taxpayers’ money, the department said. The cull is expected to begin immediately and take a few weeks.

■ JAPAN

Mini-helicopter to take flight

A man who developed the world’s smallest helicopter will take flight in the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci in tribute to the Renaissance genius’ original idea. Gennai Yanagisawa, 75, said on Thursday that a demonstration flight of his one-man helicopter is planned in the city of Vinci, near Florence, Italy, next Sunday. Yanagisawa developed the GEN H-4 helicopter — with rotors, a chair, footrest and handle bar — in the late 1990s. “The concept of my helicopter comes from Italy, and I’ve always wanted to fly it in da Vinci’s birthplace,” Yanagisawa said from Matsumoto, where he runs an electronics equipment company. Yanagisawa said Vinci Mayor Dario Parrini offered him an opportunity to fly his helicopter when the two met in the Italian city in February. Although the 75kg helicopter can ascend up to 150m, Yanagisawa said he will fly 5m above ground during his three, 10-minute demonstrations “so the audience can see me and enjoy the flight.” Yanagisawa has sold five GEN H-4s in Japan and two in the US for recreational use. The helicopters sell for about ¥6 million (US$57,140). “I hope someday this can be used just like a scooter,” he said.

■ SINGAPORE

Mother arrested, son dead

The mother of a 13-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly killing him after she was found unconscious and bleeding with cuts on her wrists in the bedroom she shared with her son, news reports said yesterday. On the same mattress, Tan Eu-Jin, 13, was lying unconscious, the Straits Times said. Eu-Jin was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital but died 40 minutes later. The boy’s grandparents, who lived with the mother and son, found the 36-year-old woman and boy in the room and called for an ambulance. The mother, who reportedly suffered from depression, was hospitalized on Friday under the watch of police officers. Police were investigating how the boy died. They were seen picking tablet wrappers from a rubbish bin by the family’s flat, the report said. Neighbors said they were shocked as the mother and boy appeared “very close” and seemed happy.